Morrison
by Skiwee Deewee
Summary: This is the first part of a story I am working on. It is about life in the Morrison Formation 160 million years ago. A camarasaurus, stegosaurus, and allosaurus will learn how life works in these times.


Chapter 1: Camarasaurus Nesting Grounds

The sun rose over the Morrison Formation. It is 165 million years ago. In a small, plain field near the river, a nesting ground sits almost completely undisturbed. There were many nests filled with eggs in the area. Guarding some of the nests is an adult Camarasaurus. She has been one of the sentries who stays and guards the nesting grounds from predators while the rest of the herd moves off to eat. It is a hard job when there are many dangers to the eggs and alone. Camarasaurus is a sauropod, a kind of herbivorous dinosaur which were very large and had long necks. These animals were some of the biggest creatures to ever walk the earth. The reason to why they got so big was due to the amount of oxygen in the earth's atmosphere. Camarasaurus was one of the smaller sauropods. It was noticeably smaller than some other sauropods in the Morrison Formation, like Apatosaurus and Brachiosaurus. The Camarasaurus walks around the nests, being careful not to step on them. Some small Dryosaurs walk around the nests. They are heading for water. Dryosaurus is a small hervabore. It often relied on small bushes for food. They get to the river and start drinking the water. The Camarasaurus does not care that they walk around the nests. It would be good to have them around anyways, as their loud calls can signal others of it's kind that danger is coming. On the other side of the river is a small herd of Stegosaurus. Stegosaurus is the largest Stegosaurid of its kind. It was a herbivore. It had a small head, large plates on its back, and spikes on its tail known as thagomizers. They are used to defend themselves from predators. Their nesting ground is across the river from the Camarasaurus nesting grounds. It has been many months since both of the species eggs have been laid. They are about to hatch. One of the Camarasaurus eggs starts to crack. It is hatching. It takes a few minutes for the baby Camarasaurus to break out of the egg shell. She is the first Camarasaurus to have hatched. Her name is Cami. Cami takes her first steps out into the world. She stumbles out of her egg and falls. She gets back up. This is the start, learning how to take your first steps. The Camarasaurus guarding the nests notices the eggs hatching. Cami has walked out of the nest. She has started to get good at walking. She lets out little cries. This is a dangerous move, as she is being watched. A young ceratosaurus stands at the edge of the clearing. Ceratosaurus is a theropod. Theropods are carnivores. Ceratosaurus is easily recognized by it's small horn on the front of it's head. It has two smaller horns near its eyes. Although it is young and not fully grown, it is still a danger to the hatchlings. It spies Cami, unguarded and alone, and away from her nest.The ceratosaurus starts moving in. Cami is unaware of the coming danger. The dryosaurs has noticed, though. They cry out their danger calls to alert each other. They take off away from the water. This alerts the adult Camarasaurus. It rushes towards Cami as fast as it can. Being large is definitely a disadvantage for her, as her size limits how fast she can go. The young Ceratosaurus towers over Cami. Just before he can make the kill. The adult arrives. She gives out a loud call.The Ceratosaurus backs off. The adult Camarasaurus starts charging him again. The young Ceratosaurus decides it is not worth it, and takes off back into the forest. Cami Looks up at the adult. The adult lowers her head and greets Cami. She then pushes Cami with her head back to her nest. Once they get there, Cami meets her new siblings. As the sun climbs higher, the herd returns. The mothers lower their heads to look at their new hatchlings.

Cami and the rest of the hatchlings will grow to become giants, if they can survive. There are many predators that roam the Morrison Formation. For most of the Camarasaur hatchlings, they will not make it to adulthood.


End file.
